False Positive or Asymptomatic?
By Estevian Moore
A recent article post in the New York Times (February 2021) written by Melinda Moyer discuses the speculation of false positive coronavirus test results and the belief that they are a common occurrence. At first glance, there is an image of a red test tube with the words “ We’re Positive You’re Positive” written on it. In the post Melinda includes expert opinions about the topic from the director of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, as well as an infectious disease clinician and researcher at the University of Alberta. Moyer also includes instances in which false positives were reported. In order to help keep everyone safe and prevent the spread of this virus we all need to take the proper precautions especially if you’ve tested positive regardless if you have symptoms or not.
As reported cases of coronavirus continue to rise exponentially within the United States, citizens take to social media to announce their test results and their wellbeing to their families and friends. Many of those reporting that their tests have come back positive. However, patients such as the husband of Melinda Moyer’s friend, whom she mentioned in her article post “Don’t Assume Your Coronavirus Test Is a False Positive”, have received this result although they do not observe any signs or symptoms of the COVID-19 virus. Of course if there are no symptoms accompanied by the positive result of the test an individual feels well they wouldn’t expect to be ill. The comments and posts on made on social media creates a faulty narrative of COVID-19 testing and positive results in which the patients are asymptomatic. According to Daniel Diekema, who is the director of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, it is not advised to ignore a positive test because you are not showing symptoms. When I did a quick search in google to find out the rate of asymptomatic coronavirus cases it lead me to an article on Healthline dated January 2021, which says fifty-nine percent of COVID-19 cases are caused by presymptomatic persons who have yet to develop symptoms and asymptomatic persons who never develop symptoms.
Link to Healthline article:
Although false positives are immensely uncommon, there are instances in which they occur such as the 77 NFL players and staff members who tested positive in August of 2020. The teams took proper precautions and retesting to verify the results of the previous test, with most of them coming back negative. In this case the results returned false negative because the samples were contaminated. According to Melinda in her article incidents like these are caught fairly quickly because they affect many samples.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acknowledges that not everyone with COVID-19 feels sick. In A report there were 238 U.S. service members on a naval ship who tested positive for coronavirus and 20% reported having no symptoms. This is the reason we must be cautions and act as if we are carrying the virus after getting a positive result without symptoms. The CDC suggest to stay socially distance and isolate yourself from others for a minimum of ten days, whether you have symptoms of the virus or not.
It is crucial that we all work together to slow down and cease the spread of the COVID-19 virus. We all must do our part by wearing face coverings and distancing ourselves as suggested by the CDC. Although you may feel well, if you have tested positive for coronavirus chances are its not a false positive. You are just luck enough not to be affected by it as it has affected others. Whether you are having symptoms or not do your part to keep everyone safe.
Works cited
Gordon, Grant. “Several Teams Canceling, Altering Activities Following Testing Irregularities .” NFL.com, NFL, 23 Aug. 2020, www.nfl.com/news/several-teams-changing-canceling-activities-following-testing-irregularities.
“Isolate If You Are Sick.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/isolation.html#:~:text=If%20you%20continue%20to%20have,you%20had%20your%20positive%20test.
“Medical Information and Health Advice You Can Trust.” Healthline, Healthline Media, www.healthline.com/health.
Moyer, Melinda Wenner. “Don’t Assume Your Coronavirus Test Is a False Positive.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Feb. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/02/10/opinion/false-positive-covid-test.html.